1899 At The Lodge

This is our favorite place to go in Cloudcroft! Full of class and really good food! They have great wait staff who are professional and courteous. In our opinion, that’s half of the experience is the atmosphere and the service. We have been coming here for years and have seen the service and food fluctuate throughout the years. They have a really good combination of cooks and waiters, the best we’ve seen. The food is first class, using quality ingredients and always a beautiful presentation. Plus, the restrooms right down the hall are always clean! They definitely know what they’re doing!

Great experience dining in the lounge/bar area. The staff are excellent and the food is awesome. A little more upscale… it fits the atmosphere of the Lodge perfectly. Feels like you’re in another era.

This was our first time coming to The Lodge, and for the most part it was an enjoyable experience. Let me start out by saying that this wasn't my first time in Cloudcroft but it was my fiance's, so I was very excited to show him around and experience new places together. We dined here earlier in the day, and I wish I caught the bartender's name, but he was absolutely fantastic. He was attentive, friendly, and good natured. Whoever that guy was, he was awesome! He really helped set the vibe of the afternoon and gave us a really good experience. We joked about Rebecca, it was great. Lunch bar menu was delish. We didn't have any dinner plans and after lunch we definitely felt it was worth coming back for dinner, the bartender very kindly helped us with dinner reservations. Dinner is where it got a little rocky. We showed up 2 minutes early for our reservation. The restaurant had a couple more patrons at tables compared to lunch but not nearly enough to call it a full restaurant. So, we walk up to the host, Brennan. Very sweet, but as we were 2 minutes early to our reservation she said that we would have to wait. My fiance and I kind glanced at each other questionably but did as she said and we waited the 2 minutes. And it wasn't a "let me go get your table ready" or "let me check on your table" 2 minutes, it was a 'we are going to sit here and watch every second of this clock until we have waited for 2 minutes'. So no big deal, but as we were waiting another family showed up to be seated for dinner and the host told them they had to wait while the host took us to our table to seat us. So that kind of caused a jam in the work flow. Not a big ordeal but something that we noticed that could have been avoided. Maybe management is really anal about seating guests early, who knows. Anyways, our server, Tona, was a delight. She was so sweet, so nice, so friendly. Very attentive. Food: delish, chef's kiss However, and this is what keeps me from knocking this review to 5 stars, even as a person like me who is mean as hell, this even took me aback. While ordering, my fiance requested a side item that appeared on the bar menu and not the dinner menu, and I guess we spoke too loud as the wrong person was walking by, but our server glanced to the side with fear in her eyes at I'm guessing who was the manager on shift. Blonde lady, 30's maybe, Tona asked if they would be able to add that item. The blonde lady abruptly said "nope!" (rude) and we sat in silence for a moment until she said "the chef won't let us" but if we wanted to go to the bar then we can order it there. So she walked away, and we kind of just sat there and looked at each other like "is she really just gonna mic drop and walk off?" I know, crazy right? Not really lol, again, let me emphasize that this is not a super huge ordeal, but at least humor me and say "let me go ask the chef" and kick your feet in the back and pretend like you went to go ask him before you tell me no. Second of all, the food in the bar comes from the same kitchen as the food in the restaurant, and you're gonna tell us we can't have some dang French fries? We can order a drink from the bar and they would bring it to the table but evidently no food items. Tona was very apologetic and discussed some options with us but ultimately decided to forgo the side item. Not in any way, shape, or form a dire situation, but it definitely was something that we couldn't get off of our minds all night and couldn't seem to shake, it was a negative part of our experience and had I not wanted to let the rest of our time in Cloudcroft end on a positive note I would've come down a little harder than I did letting it roll off our shoulders. I decided it wasn't worth ruining her night like she did ours. To end on a positive, the food was great, the atmosphere was awesome and unique, go eat here or be square!